Cynthia "Cyndi" Stanimirov
Cyndi Stanimirov was a contestant on Season 11 of Hell's Kitchen. She ranked in 4th place. Personality Cyndi was a very confident chef. Despite her weight, she managed to keep up, become a strong link of the red team, and make it to the black jackets. Season 11 Episode 1/2 When the chefs arrived in Los Angeles, Ramsay surprisingly told them to meet him in Las Vegas. Arrived there, they were greeted by showgirls, got on a double-decker bus for a tour of the city, and during the ride, Cyndi was excited to see a picture of herself on the Caesar's Palace welcome board big screen. After that, the chefs got tricked in believing they would go on a Las Vegas 4D experience. However, they arrived in front of a live audience, where Ramsay was waiting for them. During the Signature Dish Challenge, Cyndi said she was not working in an environment like that, and that safety was important for her. She was the seventh person from the red team to have her dish judged by Ramsay, and went up against Michael. Despite her steak being deemed delicious, she lost the round to Michael, but the red team eventually won the challenge 5-4. They were rewarded with a night out in Las Vegas, meeting Celine Dion, and get VIP tickets for the latter's show. Arrived in the presidential suite, Cyndi noticed the woman with sushi on her body, and was amazed, saying it was absolutely nothing she ever dreamed of. When she entered Hell's Kitchen after the reward, she declared she was dreading the day she would walk out that door, and later, she was annoyed by Gina manipulating a puppet, as she said she was acting like a 2-year-old. The next day, during prep, Cyndi acknowledged that the red team was screwed because of Gina's confused state. During dinner service, she was on the meat station with Jessica. When the red team moved on to entrées, she was concerned about Jessica being fresh out of culinary school, and believed it could turn to a disaster. When Jessica took more than three minutes to slice her lamb, she asked how much of an amateur she was, but when it was accepted for being perfectly cooked, she was impressed, and told that Jessica could cook some meat despite that. Near the end, the red team pushed themselves to finish service strong, and she was extremely proud of completing it. The red team won the service. Episode 3 The next morning, some soldiers from the US army came in Hell's Kitchen, went to the dorms, and gave a very brutal wake up call to the chefs by screaming and yelling to get up. When the teams were challenged to climb up the wall, Cyndi decided to take responsibility of lifting her teammates over, along with Nedra. The red team managed to get 31 lobsters in their bucket, compared to the blue team's 37, but fortunately for them, that was only the first part of the challenge. That amused her as she was convinced the men could not cook for shit, and the women could not lose the second part of the challenge. During the Lobster Cleaning Challenge, Cyndi was paired with Susan. They scored the second point for the red team, and near the end, they scored another one. The red team won the challenge 11-8, and they were rewarded with a day on a 85-foot luxury yacht, a master sushi chef preparing them lunch, and a massage. While everybody was enjoying their sushi lunch, she said that it was the most gorgeous day possible, the day was unbelievable, and concluded by saying that the red team was having complete momentum, and that they would not stop anytime soon. During dinner service, Cyndi was on the dessert station. She was not seen much, except on Mary's first attempt at the risotto, where she was dismayed by the amount of white wine in it, saying it was basic stuff. The red team was eventually kicked out of the kitchen after a lot of mistakes. Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate two people each. She was not nominated for elimination. Episode 4 The next morning, all the chefs went outside for the next challenge, and saw Ramsay, dressed in a running suit, and a lot of runners waiting in front of a start/finish line. That worried Cyndi as she did not know if they would have to run a marathon, while adding that she could not do that. During the HK3K Service Challenge, she checked Mary's run, but was worried when a lot of time passed before she could get any news. When Mary finally passed her first checkpoint, she was relieved and told her to just keep going. Later, she expressed worry when Dan arrived in the blue kitchen while Mary was still not finished. During service, she was not seen much, except when she motivated the team while Danielle was slow to end the fries, the red team eventually won the challenge, and were asked to go help the blue team finish their entrées. They were rewarded with a day at Temecula Valley's Wine Country for wine tasting and making, and flew on a private jet to get there. Arrived at the private jet, Cyndi declared that Ramsay knew how to make them feel like VIPs, and during lunch, she reminded her teammates that they really got together. During dinner service, Cyndi was responsible for serving Greek salads tableside. She was not seen much, but managed to be in perfect synchronization with the appetizers at Kristi Yamaguchi's table. The red team eventually lost the service, and they were asked to nominate two people. During deliberation, she agreed with Susan about considering Danielle and Jacqueline, while reminding that all of Danielle's Wellingtons were overcooked. Later, she noticed that Danielle was screaming, but was missing that passion when sinking, and after, was hesitating for the second nominee. She was not nominated for elimination. Episode 5 Back in the dorms, Cyndi was still not over Jacqueline's pink chicken incident. During the Protein Identification Challenge, Cyndi was paired with Susan, and they were the second pair to compete for the red team. When the women went downstairs after the blue team was finished, Ramsay revealed them the time to beat, which was 10:33, and she wondered what took them so long, adding that if the red team would not beat that time, they would be pathetic. On their turn, they landed on the chicken tacos, she said she was just throwing things in her mouth trying to taste things, and they got chicken on their first attempt. On Jessica and Nedra's turn, she was nervous and stated that they should guess what was there fast. The red team won the challenge 6:37-10:33, she was very proud to have won four consecutive challenges, and wondered what was wrong with the men, adding that if she was one of those, she would beg for a sex change. They were rewarded with a day at Malibu, in a $15M beach house, as well as getting there in convertibles. During the reward, Cyndi tried the wakeboarding activity with Laird Hamilton, she fell while she was on her knees, and struggled to get back on her board, leading Amanda to compare her to a baby on the raft. The next morning, when both teams were asked to get downstairs, Cyndi declared she was not ready for anything as it was still very early in the morning. During breakfast service, she was on the omelet station. On the first ticket, her eggs were stuck to the pans, and she struggled to get them out. She acknowledged that they had to come out of the gates quickly and that they had to keep the momentum going, and Ramsay asked the red team to wake up after she gave two minutes. Later, she and Ja'Nel rallied and served food at a good pace, and near the end, she acknowledged that in order to win, they had to send the pancakes in the following ten seconds. The red team lost the service as they failed to complete their tickets before the blue team, and they were asked to nominate two people. During deliberation, Cyndi considered Jacqueline, saying that if the pancakes were properly done, they would have killed the blue team, and Nedra, which infuriated the latter. She was not nominated for elimination. Episode 6 Back in the dorms, Cyndi told the red team that all they had to do was execute. During dinner service, Cyndi was on the garnish station. She was not seen at all, but after a lot of mistakes, the red team was kicked out of the kitchen. Both teams were named joint-losers, and they were asked to nominate two people each. During deliberation, she commented about the last raw pork and acknowledged that if was not for that, they would have completed service. She was not nominated for elimination. Episode 7 Episode 8 Episode 9 Episode 10 Episode 11 Episode 12 Episode 13 Episode 14/15 Episode 16 Episode 17/18 Episode 19 Episode 20 Episode 21/22 Trivia Quotes *"I dread the day I walk out that door." *(About Jessica) "Who would have thought? Girl can cook some meat!" Category:Chef Category:Season 11 Category:Black Jacket